Variations of chemical element composition of bee and beekeeping products in different taxons of the biosphere

Geographical variations in element composition of bee products are poorly investigated though a lot of attempts are made to utilize the data in ecological monitoring. So the comparison of chemical element composition of bee and beekeeping products in different taxons of the biosphere may become valuable to test the efficiency of such approach. For this purpose content of 25 elements in bee body, bee bread, propolis and honey from Ribnitsa district of Moldavia (unpolluted area, control), Henty province of Mongolia (selenium deficient area) and Voskresensk district of Moscow region (mineral fertilizers production) were determined by means of the ICP-MS. Among 3 investigated regions Mongolia was characterized by the lowest Se levels and the highest accumulation of Al, Ca, Cd, Cu, Co, K, Mn, Mg, Na, Ni, P, Zn and V in bee bodies. The highest levels of Pb, Cr, Fe, Si, Sr and B, Se, Li, Sn were typical for Voskresensk and Moldavia bees accordingly. The highest correlation coefficients were registered between element concentrations in bee body and bee bread (r = +0.97-0.99, P < 0.0001), less significant- in bee body and propolis (r = +0.5-0.7; P < 0.001) and no correlation was demonstrated between element composition of bee body and honey. Propolis was characterized by significantly higher capacity to accumulate Pb, Cr, Sn and Al than bee body. Compared to bee body honey accumulated the lowest level of Mn and the highest of Si in Se-deficient Mongolia but the opposite phenomenon was demonstrated in Moldavia with moderately increased Se content in the environment. The results suppose that the most promising object for ecological monitoring is bee body. Element composition of propolis seems to reflect prolonged accumulation of elements, especially Pb, Al, Sn and Cr, by plant resin rather than dynamic temporal elements loading. Accumulation levels of elements in bee bread may be used on a par with bee body mineral content only in cases with equal honey content in bee bread. Honey utilization in monitoring of geochemical elements loading should be used with caution due to peculiarities of pollen/nectar elements distribution. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.